Chapter Forty-Three

February 9th, 1914
New York City, New York

Rose didn't mean to sleep as long as she did. The room was flooded in light as she curled her toes against the cotton sheets. She stretched, her back aching from her long sleep. Rose squinted as she glanced to the gold alarm clock on her nighstand. It was nearly ten in the morning. Rose sat up straight upon this revelation, looking around the room. Her messy curls bobbed on her head as she reached for her robe at the foot of the bed. Hurriedly, Rose checked the closet to see Jack's only pair of boots gone. She knew what was on his agenda for that morning. What had happened?

Rose fast-walked from the bedroom and quickly went down the stairs, her robe and nightgown trailing behind her. She whirled into the kitchen and stopped abrutly when she was greeted by two faces looking at her. Sitting at the kitchen island was Jack and Iris, each with their own mug of coffee. Rose's eyes wandered towards Iris' carpet bag carelessly disregarded on the counter.

"Mornin'," Jack greeted her, "There's some coffee for you, should still be warm. Fresh fruit in the ice box. I got you raspberries."

It took Rose a moment to catch her breath and find her voice, "Thank you," She turned towards the coffee maker and slowly poured herself a mug. She took a sip, the warmness sinking through the entirety of her body. She then turned back towards the duo at the island, "It's good to see you, Iris."

"Oh, uh, yes, likewise," Iris stuttered for a moment, sitting up straight with rosy cheeks, "I'm sorry to be here so early. I didn't mean to intrude on your morning. Um... how are you feeling?"

Rose grinned weakly, "I feel fine, thank you," She paused for the slightest moment, "What about you? How are you feeling?"

Iris looked down to her coffee cup. Her mouth opened slightly, but a few beats passed before any noise came out, "I'm feeling... better," She hunched her shoulders for a moment and looked between Jack and Rose, "I think I should go home now... I should see Frenchie and Momma."

"See you at the studio tomorrow?" Jack asked as Iris rose and hauled her carpet bag off the counter. She grinned lightly and nodded. She looked to Rose and waved before leaving the kitchen. A few moments later, they heard the front door close. Jack was finally able to exhale the long-winded sigh from the morning. He stood and crossed to Rose, dipping down and kissing her gently.

"So, what happened?" Rose asked softly, reaching for his fingers and lacing her's through his at their side, "I'm sorry I slept through all of it."

Jack grinned, pecking her on the forehead. Rose rounded the kitchen island and sat in Iris' recently vacated stool. Jack grabbed the raspberries from the ice box and opened the small crate, setting them in front of Rose. He refilled his coffee and sank back into his stool beside Rose, bobbing his knee, "Well... you already know she didn't go," Jack raked his hands through his hair, "I went down to the docks to find her this morning. Y'know, talk some sense into her. I had a speech prepared and everything," He let out another sigh, cradling his head in his hand, "The strangest thing happened this morning, Rose..."

"What?" Rose leaned forward, reaching her hand out to gently graze his wrist.

"There was just a big crowd there," Jack shook his head, "Lots of cars and carts. Seeing the ship in the dock... well, it just reminded me of the Titanic. I realized this morning I had done everything in my power to surpress those memories. I hadn't thought about anything having to do with that ship in nearly two years. Seeing the scene this morning... it was just déjá vu for me. It took me back to Southampton. I was so overwhelmed and caught up in myself, the ship left with me just standing in one spot for an entire hour. And all I could think about as I watched the ship leave was... well, I thought maybe there was a good reason I tried to forget the Titanic. Because it had a power over me that I didn't want it to have. Because it made me do stupid things. Because it's ultimately what drove us apart from each other for all those months. And I hate that, Rose."

Rose reached for a raspberry and paused, "I know what you mean."

"Iris didn't get on the ship, though," Jack told her, "I turned around and she was standing right there crying. And... she said the strangest thing. Something I had heard before. She said the same exact thing you said after you jumped off that lifeboat. It sent a shiver down my spine."

"Tim did that to me about a year ago," Rose said, lowering the raspberry back into the crate. She looked to Jack. She could tell he hadn't gotten much sleep, "I was being hesitant, as usual, and he said something you had said to me. One of the very first things. He said 'I'm involved now'. That shiver you felt? I've felt it one too many times."

Jack sighed all over and slowly his hand crept across the kitchen island, tenderly covering the top of Rose's. He gently carressed her soft skin, gazing at her in the morning light. How beautiful she looked without any make up, her curls allowed free around her face. A small crooked grin spread across his lips, "Can we go back to bed now?"

Rose let out a laugh, lowering her mug from her lips. Jack also chuckled, lifting her hand to his mouth, where he gently kissed her knuckles.

...

February 11th, 1914
New York City, New York

Rose took extra long to get ready that morning for her meeting. Jack laid in bed, his arms tucked under his head as he watched her take her time doing her make up. She applied her foundation and gave her cheeks color. She chose a dark red lipstick and dusted her eyes with a peachy color that caught the sunlight just right. She brushed her curls out, then floofed them, and then brushed them again. Jack watched with great interest, his eyebrows arched. Rose twisted her framing locks around, pinning them behind her head and allowed the rest of her curls to spill down her back. She was in the closet forever, walking up and down her variety of dresses. She finally settled on a long sleeve dark blue dress that had gold threaded hemming. She pulled her stockings up her legs first and then shimmied into the dress. She zipped it up and stood in front of her body length mirror. Jack watched as she turned in many different directions. Her shoulders then slumped and she let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, sitting up.

"Oh, nothing," Rose shook her head, turning sideways in the mirror, "It's just... this dress used to flow just right on my body. Now... it's making my stomach look lumpy."

"Well, uh, did you know you were pregnant?" Jack grinned boyishly. Rose shot him a look.

"I don't want to look pregnant for my meeting," Rose told him, "They don't need to know. It could hurt my chances of them wanting to do business with me."

She went back to the closet and pulled out a long sleeve purple dress. She tried it on and felt as if she was right back to how she originally felt. She let that one crumple to the floor beside her first attempt. Next, Rose chose an olive green dress with white threaded hemming. She said a silent prayer as she zipped the dress up and inspected herself in the mirror. The waistline was hemmed higher on the dress, giving it a more a fluid A-line skirt.

"You can't tell, right?" Rose asked, turning in front of Jack.

"Nope," Jack shook his head, his hair rustling against the pillow, "it's like I never knocked you up."

Rose grinned and came to the side of the bed, seating herself. She leaned forward onto Jack's chest, tracing light circles against his bare skin, "This is all your fault, you know?" She teased gently, "You've just made everything take twice as long in my life."

"Yup," Jack chuckled huskily, their faces hovering inches from each other, "guess I shoulda just stayed away, huh?"

Rose's smile never faltered, "Well... I suppose that would have been the easy thing to do."

"And when have I ever done things the easy way?" Jack grinned, leaning forward to close the space between their lips.

...

Jack made Rose a coffee to-go and even packed her some snacks. As she tucked it into her purse, she wondered how she could possibly even think of eating. Her stomach was tossing and turning with extreme anxiety as she played out a million and one different scenarios as to how the meeting could go today. She fidgeted with the coffee cup in her hands and looked to Jack nervously.

"Well," She let out an uneven breath, "off I go. Are you sure I look alright?"

"You always look beautiful."

"Seriously, Jack!"

"I'm being serious!" He said, doing his best to suppress his rising laugh, "You look great. You'll knock 'em out of the park with your personality, though. I think these publishers are about to find their diamond in the rough."

"Oh, I'm so nervous," Rose said, her knees nearly knocking together, "First impressions are everything, Jack! What if I get tongue-tied? What if I have no more good ideas? What if I end up sitting there, speechless, like an absolute fool?"

"Rose," Jack placed his hands on her shoulders, "that's not gonna happen. You're going to wow them, I just know it! This has been one of your dreams your entire life! Nothing can stop you, not even yourself. Sometimes you can't think about it; you just have to do it."

Rose took a moment to absorb Jack's words, nodding her head slowly, "Okay," She sighed. She lifted her hands to grip his wrists, "You'll be here when I get home?"

"Yes, of course," Jack nodded, "I'll be right here waiting for you. Now go. You don't want to be late."

"Okay," She nodded, almost robotically, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Jack pulled her in a tight embrace against him. She clung to his sturdy figure, "Eat your snacks, okay? Try not to walk too much, either."

Rose lifted her eyes to him and nodded, slowly tearing herself away from his body. She held onto his hand until they were too far away from each other. She felt the tingle in her fingers from where he had touched her. Rose continually looked over her shoulder towards Jack, who was grinning and leaning against the threshold of the front door. Rose squared her shoulders and walked briskly out of the neighborhood. Her entire body was wracked in shakes again as she focused on the task she had before her.

Feel confident. Exude it, Rose told herself, trying to tilt her chin up. She paused at the corner, waiting for the signal to cross the street, You can do this, Rose, She thought, her hand clenching her coffee mug tightly, You've made it this far, right? It's time to cross mountains.

...

Tim was waiting outside his office building when Rose turned the corner. He had a leather satchel slung over one shoulder and was checking his wrist watch when he spotted Rose coming down the sidewalk. He grinned when he saw her and did a small wave as she closed the gap between them.

"Good afternoon," Tim greeted her, "Ready to go?"

"Yes," Rose nodded, "I think so."

"Great. If we start walking, we can catch the next subway to Manhattan," Together the duo stepped into line beside each other. They walked in silence for a few moments, migrating across the streets with large hoards of other buisness men. Tim gripped the strap of his satchel and glanced to Rose as they continued down the street, "Nervous?"

"Is it easy to tell?" Rose asked, staring straight ahead.

"Not necessarily," Tim shook his head.

"I'm more fearful of the unknown," Rose looked to the lawyer now, "I don't know what to expect."

"Well, expect one thing," Tim grinned light-heartedly, "You're about to become an author, Rose."